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Cork vs. Graphite

Cork and graphite belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Cork is a polymeric material, while graphite is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 11 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is cork and the bottom bar is graphite.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 1.0
90
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 0.020
21
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 0.85
18

Thermal Properties

Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.040
6.0
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 200
4.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.15
1.8

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 0.074
6.7
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 60
53
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 1.6
2.9
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 13
8.7
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 16
12